Friends
by Michael-Harambay
Summary: The Autobots thought they were prepared for Earth and the strange things the planet had to offer. But the last thing they expected to see - ever again, let alone here - turned out to be right under their noses. And in human possession no less! Just one question: What were sparklings doing here? Prime universe with crossovers.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **friends**

It had started out like any other patrol. Just a drive around the city, though the horns on his hood were more country style. Normally Arcee would accompany him, but she was busy driving Jack to school that morning.

Cliffjumper wasn't a fan of city traffic, that was for sure. Ratchet had decided to bridge him to Phoenix, Arizona. It was just as hot and dusty as Jasper but more populated. Having to stop at a red light every couple of blocks was starting to get annoying, and he was stopped at a red light when a peculiar signal unexpectedly brushed against his scanners. The red light turned green during his confusion, and the signal disappeared quickly.

What was _that_? It had felt like a weak spark signature, but if it _was_ another Cybertronian, they had left scanner range by now. Damn.

"Find anything?" Ratchet asked, more out of habit than the belief that Cliffjumper would find anything in the completely random location. Cliffjumper transformed against the backdrop of a powering down groundbridge after rolling into base, green reflected in red armor.

"Actually...I thought I detected a spark signature, but it went out of range too quickly for me to follow up on." Arcee, from her position at the terminal nearby, asked, "Possible 'Con?"

"I'm not sure." Cliffjumper admitted. "Too weak to tell."

"We will patrol the area a few more times, make certain." Prime said, having walked in on the discussion. And that's how Cliffjumper ended up being stuck in traffic yet again two days later. Joy.

He was cruising down a side street when the signal came back. _The slag?,_ Cliffjumper thought. _Guess It's not a fluke._ Slowing down, Cliffjumper crept along the street as his scanners attempted to locate the source. The signal seemed strongest in front of a Starbucks, of all places. Maybe Decepticons liked coffee? Once he pulled into the parking lot he knew he was close; the signal strength was increasing enough for him to get a better read. It was definitely a spark signature.

 _So, which one of you isn't a car?_ He wondered dryly as he circled around the parking lot. He was close enough to the mech, whoever he was, to feel an EM field. Which was weird. EM fields were never used anymore - it was a dead giveaway of a soldier's position. Besides that, EM fields used to be a way of transmitting emotions; by now the war had raged on for so long that nobody really liked to talk about their emotions, let alone _with_ their emotions. It had been a long time since he'd felt one.

Whoever this guy was, his EM field was unshielded and all over the place, a rookie mistake for anyone to make. It felt light and happy, bubbly almost, and...young? Cliffjumper slammed on his breaks, the effect not as dramatic as he would have liked considering he'd only been perusing the parking lot at a measly 5/mph. _WHAT._

This...this was the EM field of a child. A sparkling. Cliffjumper didn't have nearly as much experience with kids as someone like Ratchet or Arcee might have, but he knew what a sparkling EM field felt like. How was- Where- What-

-ARCEE!-

From the inside the base, the motorcycle stopped her conversation with Bulkhead mid-sentence to answer the frenzied comm.

" _What_?!" Couldn't that moron go ten minutes without conversation?

-I found a-it's a- there's- _sparkling_!-

"What?"

-I'm in a Starbuck's parking lot. There's a sparkling EM field and spark signature, bridge over here and help me find it!-

Arcee rolled her optics. "This isn't funny 'Cliff."

-Great, 'cause I'm not joking.- Cliffjumper said. Arcee frowned.

"You _seriously_ think you found a _sparkling_?" This was just plain ridiculous, even for him.

Wordlessly Cliffjumper sent her his scanner readings along with an irritated ping.

"...On my way."

Cliffjumper didn't know what Arcee told Ratchet, but a few minutes later she and Bumblebee were pulling into the Starbucks parking lot behind him.

"Yeah, this feels...similar." Arcee admitted. Cliffjumper flashed his blinkers at them.

"It's strongest around where I'm parked, but I can't tell if that means it's coming from this black truck, grey car, or inside the building itself."

"We'll just have to wait and see." Arcee muttered, parking a row away from Cliffjumper and ordering Bumblebee to likewise look inconspicuous. They didn't have to wait long. It was getting late, and the humans inside the coffee shop would either claim whichever vehicle produced the signal or leave them alone with it. A middle aged man walked out, got in the black truck, and drove off. The signal remained. A few minutes later a blonde teenager came out and hopped in the grey Honda, and this time the signal moved. The grey Honda had to be the Cybertronian.

"Cliffjumper, your alt mode's the most average, stay behind him."

"Thanks?" Cliffjumper supplied, following suit. Bumblebee and Arcee stayed further back. They followed the car to an apartment complex, and the guy got out and went inside with his stuff, the signal somehow following him. Yet the human couldn't have been the source. What was this?

Arcee leaned forward I on her kickstand. "Did you guys get that?"

"If by 'that' you mean the signal somehow _following_ the human?"

"Bwirrr-weep." Bumblebee Acknowledged

It was decided that Cliffjumper would do recon (aka stay up late as frag while the others got to go back to base) and Arcee would switch out with him come morning.

"You better not be late." He grumbled at the two-wheeler as she and Bumblebee drove off.

* * *

"Wake up! _Ryan_! You're gonna make us late to school!"  
"Wmmm-ooo-thr"  
"Whirr-click?"  
"What are you, my mother?" Ryan clarified, flopping over in bed without the least intention of getting up.

But the sparkling was undeterred. "We'll be late to school!"  
"You don't even go to school."  
"I sorta do."  
"Hiding in my backpack doesn't count."  
"But I'm learning too." The small mech whined. And it was true; while Ryan didn't much like his AP calculus class (which his parents had all but forced him to take), Ditto enjoyed the subject far more than any child, robot or not, should.

When trying to pull off the blankets didn't evoke a response, Ditto finally asked,  
"Why aren't we going to school?"  
"Because," Ryan answered while pulling his covers back up, "it's senior skip day."  
Ditto cocked his head adorably, though Ryan had his eyes closed to feign sleep so he didn't see it. "Wait, so you were _told_ to not go to school?"  
"Something like that. Go back to sleep."  
"But I'm not tired! Can't you take me for a walk since we don't have school today?" By 'walk' he meant 'ride in Ryan's backpack'.

Ryan groaned. "If you leave me to sleep in another hour I will."

"Okay!" The mechlet said brightly before zipping out the door. A few minutes later the sound of clanging dishes emanated from the direction of the kitchen, but Ryan was enjoying laying in bed an extra hour too much to care.

An hour later, when he finally did get up, the high schooler made his way to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. He only made it a step inside before he realized the huge mess the room had been reduced to.

"DITTO!"

"What?!" His friend yelled from somewhere else upfront. Ryan kicked an overturned pan.

"Why are all the dishes on the _floor_?"

"..."

Ugh. Why did alien robots have to be so destructive? Kneeling down, Ryan was grateful that both of his parents went to work early in the morning. If they saw his robot - no, if they saw even _half_ the messes the troublesome alien made - there would be a lot of explaining to do. Shoving the last of the pots and pans back into their correct cabinet, Ryan nabbed a poptart from the pantry and went in search of said alien. He found it sitting on the couch. Ditto twisted to look up at him, pausing the colorful cartoon displayed on his mother's ipad which was in his lap.

"Can we go now? I'm bored."

Swallowing the bite he had just taken, Ryan said "Sure. But then I have to get some homework done."

"Yay!" Ditto ran to "their" room ahead of him and came out dragging his backpack. "Make sure not to zip it _all_ the way, I wanna see!"

"Yeah yeah" Ryan muttered, holding it open so the miniature Cybertronian could hop inside. The size of a cat when in root mode, the sparkling sat criss-crossed-apple-sauced (a position Ryan had taught him) in the largest flap, a portion left unzipped so that he could peek through and see the world around him. Luckily he wasn't that heavy.

Ryan lightly swung the backpack over his shoulders and headed to the elevator. Once on the ground floor and then outside, he decided to go right at random. Maybe he'd swing by the park (and Micah's) house.

It was a surprisingly pleasant afternoon. Sunny and not too hot. _Yeah_ , Ryan thought, _I can procrastinate on my homework a little bit._ He failed to notice the motorcycle trailing him, maybe because Arcee was forced to go around the park when he cut through it. People weren't supposed to drive their motor vehicles down the sidewalk. She was behind him once again as he exited the park, turning onto Micah's street.

Micah answered the door with the second set of knocks. Ryan figured he would be home, despite not being a senior - Micah skipped school more times than he could count.

"Hey man." He said. "You got Ditto in there?"

Hearing his name, the little sparkling poked his eyes above the backpack flap as if suspicious and giggled.

"Hi Micah!"

Micah grinned. "Hi yourself." He focused on Ryan again. "Any chance you guys want to hang out at the dog park with us?"

Shuffling ensued inside the backpack, and Ryan didn't have a chance to close it before Ditto came shooting out in his RC helicopter mode with a "Yay! Park!"

Navy blue like his root mode, his vehicle was one of the larger toy models.

"Hey!" Ryan yelled, doing a quick check behind him to make sure none of the neighbors had seen what Ditto just did. Nobody was in sight. "Get back here!"

Ditto swooped back to a hover by Ryan's side, from which Micah had disappeared back into his house. A minute later the dark haired boy, a freshman while Ryan was a senior, stepped out with a green RC car on his heels and his family's german shepherd on a leash. He handed Ryan one of the two remote controls in his hands for looks. Couldn't have toy vehicles driving themselves. That would look weird.

"Hey Wheelie!" Ditto crowed happily as he made a pass by the toy truck's hood. They couldn't yell at each other, but could talk when right next to each other so as not to be overheard by nearby pedestrians. That, and they could never move out of sight of the guys when allowed to roam. The two teenagers walked side by side towards the dog park as their respective robots drove clumsily a few yards in front of them.

Whenever their group (which Lauren had jokingly called 'robot fight club', a name that was immediately shot down) wanted to get together, they used the excuse of taking their respective dogs to the dog park near Micah's house. Lauren's dad had an annoying pomeranian - a yappy ball of orange fluff - and Caleb's family owned a retriever. Everyone else used the excuse of playing with their friends' dogs and hanging out. Or reconnecting when the college kids were in town. Really, the dog park they used was exactly what they needed - behind a row of apartment buildings and a short walk away from the larger park, and rarely if at all used by the actual residents.

"I was watching the news," BUMP , "and there was this-this lady," THUMP, "and she had green hair! Did you know humans had hair that," BUMP, "color?" The concrete sidewalk leading to the park proved fairly uneven, and the green sparkling was having trouble keeping up with his flying companion and talking at the same time. Ditto made another pass over the truck's roof, almost touching him and quickly blurting-

"No, I wasn't watching the news last night. Ryan's parents came home early and I couldn't change back into my robot mode to change the channel. I don't remember what they were watching, 'cause it was booooooooring!"

Wheelie and Ditto stopped by the fence to the currently abandoned dog park, waiting for the humans to catch up. Ryan unlatched the gate while Micah patted his dog beforehand ore letting it off the leash, inciting Spike to bound away in search of a stick for Micah to throw. Wheelie rolled inside only to ramm into Ryan's leg. Closing the gate, Ryan looked down,

"What?"

"Tag! You're it!" And the green truck took off. _So be it_ , Ryan thought, and the chase began.

The sparkling was fast but Ryan was big. He quickly caught up and tapped the toy's roof.

"Gotcha."

Immediately Wheelie threw it in reverse, and the tables turned. Thinking it a game involving him (or maybe thinking he was it, you never knew with dogs), Spike briefly joined in the chase. Somehow Ditto ended up being it.

"No fair, you can fly!" Ryan cried as he dove behind a bench to avoid his flying menace. Ditto made as if to do another pas, but Ryan suddenly sprang up onto his cover and batted the helicopter down, who had made the mistake of flying too close.

"Nooooooo!" Ditto shrilled at being tagged, flipping into his root mode to land on his peds and put his hands on his hips in an angry (yet cute) glare.

"That's against _the_ _rules_!"

"Ditto!" Ryan gasped. "Change back!"

"But you broke the rules! You can't tag the tagger, and not like that!"

Ryan smirked and crossed his arms. "Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh."

Micah smiled at his friend actually arguing over the legalities of tag. Turning around to see where Spike had gotten to, he saw the dog standing by the fence, staring down something beyond it. He whistled, "Spike!"

But the german shepherd merely looked at him before resuming his guarded stance. Micah walked up to him and waved a stick. "Come on boy." Scratching behind the dog's ears he looked past the fence. Huh. He didn't remember seeing so many vehicles parked here when they came in. A sweet camaro, a bulky green truck a darker shade than Wheelie, a red car, and a blue motorcycle were all parked in front of the park. Micah held his gaze with the odd assembly of vehicles for a moment, then looked back at where Ryan was playing 'monkey in the middle' with the robots and his shoe, then back at the vehicles. Something didn't feel right. He stood up and walked over to the trio.

"Hey man," He interrupted. "I think we should go."

"Why?" Ryan asked while Wheelie cried "No!" and Ditto said "Awww."

"There's some cars out front, don't know where the drivers are. I don't think they were parked when we got here. Kinda got tinted windows. I got a bad feeling." Micah jerked a shoulder at the offending vehicles, and Ryan glanced in the direction he motioned. He didn't remember seeing them before either, but otherwise they didn't seem suspicious. Whatever, he had a math test to study for.

"Okay guys, time to go." Wheelie and Ditto looked at each other, sad the day's fun was obviously over. "...Okay."

"Race you to the gate!" Wheelie yelled suddenly, squating on all fours and shifting into his truck form. Ditto followed suit and the pair had one last race, again waiting by the gate for Ryan and Micah to catch up. Spike tugged on his leash and growled as they left, and Micah gave the somehow creepy vehicles (even though no one was there and they were just parked) one last glance over his shoulder.

 **I'd love to get reviews or suggestions, as I have no idea where I'm going with this story!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I can't believe it!"

"Primus, real _sparklings!_ "

"But how?! Cybertron went dark _ages_ ago."

"BeeeeEEEEp!"

Ratchet powered down the groundbridge as his teammates transformed into their bipedal forms, all the while excitedly talking over each over. The medic put his servos on his hips.

"Two? Sparklings!"

He'd still had his doubts even after the supposed 'signal' had been tracked to that human dwelling. But his teammates had _seen_ the children, rendering the validity of Cliffjumper's claim indisputable. This was huge.

"Two sparklings. Did you interact with them in any way?" Prime asked, approaching the happy, incredulous, and confused group from the direction of the med bay where he'd been decoding more artifact coordinates.

Arcee shook her head. "We didn't reveal ourselves. Anyone could have looked out a window and seen us."

"We could have…." Bulkhead disagreed. "They _were_ alone."

"Yeah, I have to agree with Bulkhead. Should've said hello." Said Cliffjumper, causing Arcee to glare at him. "We don't know who could have been watching or how the kids - human included - would have reacted."

"We have to take them, right?" Bulkhead interrupted, looking to Prime. "I mean...come on. They're sparklings. Humans can't take care of sparklings."

"Yet the fact remains that they currently are." Said Ratchet. He wondered just what the humans were feeding them. Then again, how were there even sparklings in the first place? How had the _humans_ gotten ahold of them? Where had they come from?

Prime frowned. In truth he had no idea what he was going to do about this shocking discovery.

"Can we even afford to take them?" Arcee was asking seriously. "We barely have the resources to fuel ourselves, and that's not even taking into account the fact that we are currently at war with the Decepticons here on Earth. Can we _defend_ them?"

Bulkhead raised an optic ridge. "Speaking of fuel, I wonder what those humans are feeding them?" He said, a question they were all thinking. "It obviously isn't energon, there's no way they'd have access to any of it. And it's kinda toxic to humans." Bumblebee nodded, him and Raf knowing _that_ from experience. Ratchet looked grim. "That's a good question, one I will have to evaluate the sparklings to answer."

Prime stepped forward, getting everyone's attention

"I think it prudent we make contact with these humans and the sparklings as soon as possible. If we can stumble upon this, so can Megatron. I doubt he would hesitate to kill them. There's also the chance of other humans discovering this and word getting out about our presence here on Earth. Cliffjumper, you and Bumblebee-"

"Why not get the kids we know to talk to them?" Everyone looked at Bulkhead, who fidgeted as he realized he just interrupted his commander. He continued nervously, "I mean, surely the humans would react better to one of them before meeting us. And that way we don't have to wait for them to be alone again."

Prime took on a thoughtful expression. "Hmmm..."

* * *

Nick put his pencil down. No. Not here. Around him students continued to jot down notes as the professor obliviously droned on. "...The Great was born in 356 BC to Phillip the II, in a time when Macedon was…."

A glance to his left revealed only a handful of people in his row between him and an exit. The feeling got more powerful, and quickly his stuff was packed and in his hands and he was in the hallway, having quietly slipped out before the history professor could comment. Nick wanted to slouch against the wall, but he knew he had to get out of the building. God knew how many electronics were in here.

What would it be this time, he wondered. A coffee maker? A printer? Hopefully nothing at all. He didn't think he could handle making one the size of a printer. The others had all been small things. Once out of the lecture hall he went right, toward the park and hopefully no technology. If he could just get there he could wait it out.

Texas State University had a decently sized park, several actually, though they were in less use in the heat of the day during the spring and summer semesters. Nick walked around the circumference of this one aimlessly. ' _Come on_ ', he thought. ' _Go away._ ' But the feeling did not go away. Not in an hour, not in several. If anything it was getting worse. When the sun started going down he knew he would have to go back to his dorm, consequences be damned; or else he'd be out here all night.

The street lights lining the sidewalk flickered on and then off as he walked past them, but no one noticed as it was still light outside. At least, no one commented. Other students lounged at corner eateries and bars, looked at their phones as they walked past him, and struggled with backpacks like his heavy with textbooks. A construction crew was working on a new building across the street. Cars drove by.

Nick knew when it happened. One moment he was walking, head down and focusing on the feeling of so much energy inside him, and the next he felt it. Or, rather, he _didn't_. The dizzying energy was gone. Had left him. Vamoose.

...Damn it.

Turning in circles Nick looked around, trying desperately to locate whatever he had inadvertently brought to life. The other times he had been inside. Out here he could have transformed anything.

A startled yelp sounded to his left. Across the street, one of the construction workers dropped his equipment and held his hand close to his shirt, swearing. Some of his fellows came to see what was wrong. Feeling a pit form in his stomach, Nick checked both ways before walking to their side of the street and pretending to look into the window of the closest store, almost within earshot. Apart from the swearing, he could make out "cut hand" and "...t broken". Glancing over, he saw the construction workers all focused on the man with the injured hand, ignoring the small round chainsaw that now twitched on the ground.

Really? A freaking _chainsaw_? ' _Why me_ ', Nick despaired. But now might be his only chance. All of the workers were distracted by the injured man, and it wouldn't be long before someone else noticed the inanimate object on the ground _moving_. And it wasn't like he could just leave the poor thing to be discovered.

Stealing himself, he walked past the construction site as if he were another pedestrian that would keep moving - but as he passed the chainsaw he snatched it up by the handle and broke into a brisk walk. No one said anything, and he only allowed himself to calm down once he'd turned the next corner and gotten out of sight. Though he kept up the fast pace.

' _Please don't transform or kill me, please don't transform or kill me_ ', looped in his mind the rest of the way to the dorms. Why no one questioned a student carrying a _chainsaw_ into the _dorms_ , Nick would never know. Finally, he was in his room.

Setting the chainsaw on the floor gingerly, he leapt back just in case. Nothing happened. It sat innocently where he'd placed it, looking for all the world like a regular power tool. It was probably scared.

...Now what?

 **Reviews are welcome!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Optimus, we have an incoming transmission." Walking over, Optimus gestured for Ratchet to accept the transmission. There was the usual static that often accompanied space to ground transmissions, then-

"Ratchet! Fancy seeing _you_! And... _Optimus_?! By the matrix-what are you two doing in this sector?"

It was a familiar voice, a voice that belonged to one who had protected him many times. It couldn't be…

"Ironhide." Optimus greeted the image of the red and black warrior that was now solidifying on the screen. The signal was still fuzzy though, having to bounce around on human frequencies and satellites.

"How did you find us?"

"Wasn't really looking for you, Sir, we were following the trail of a 'Con ship that was headed out this way. Scanners picked up this ' _Earth's_ " satellite chatter." Ironhide informed him, and they could practically hear the grin in his voice. Though whether it was at the prospect of catching up to that Decepticon ship and what he would do when he did, or finding his commander and friend, Optimus couldn't tell. That part about Decepticon ship worried him.

"Where are you anyway?" Ironhide asked. "Can't seem to pinpoint your location. We'd love to join the party down there."

"That is because the base we are currently located in is shielded, my friend. Ratchet will transmit the coordinates now. However, you will have to land during this planet's night cycle unless you have visibility shielding. The humans are currently unaware of our presence here save for a select few."

"Yeah, 'kinda guessed that seeing as there isn't any mention of you guys on this 'internet' of theirs. Pretty advanced bunch of organics." Ironhide paused. "Coordinates received, we can land by tomorrow evening."

Prime nodded, then asked, "Who all is with you?"

From his side, Ironhide smirked. "Oh, just me 'n Inferno, First Aid, Skyfire, some a' those aerial mechs, Jazz, and Blaster. Hope you're used to this _Earth_ music. Blaster and Jazz won't shut up about it."

Ratchet shook his head in dismay, just imagining the combined annoyance of those two and Bulkhead and Miko. He would have to remind himself to ask Agent Fowler for some sound proofing material later. At least he wouldn't be the only medic anymore.

"Be advised, all of you, that Megatron and a small number of Decepticons are also stranded here on Earth. They may be watching the skies for reinforcements."

Ironhide looked shocked, and off screen someone (it sounded like Blaster) could be heard swearing.

"What?! You mean that bucket of bolts is here too?! And here I thought we wouldn't be finding much in this backwater system. Well advised. Ironhide out."

Ironhide's image disappeared from the main screen, and Ratchet sagged defeatedly before looking imploringly at Prime. "We are going to run out of supplies."

Optimus put a hand on Ratchet's shoulder "Perhaps they will bring more with them. In any case, we will have more mechs to scout for energon." they will have some supplies with them. Ratchet didn't look convinced. Then something occurred to the ambulance.

"Hey," he said. "Shouldn't n'twe alert Agent Fowler of the new arrivals?"

Prime nodded. "I will comm him." Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead would certainly be thrilled to learn of Ironhide and crew's immanent arrival. This was a good thing. Optimus just hoped Fowler saw it that way.

* * *

'Buzzsaw', as his latest alien liked to call itself, was very attached to him. Literally. Whenever possible the used-to-be-a-power-tool would try to perch on his shoulder or hug his leg like a clingy two-year old. The sparkling would screech at him whenever he had to leave for class or go out, so much so that Nick wondered why no one in the neighboring dorm rooms had called administration yet. Buzzsaw was quick to catch on to the whole verbal language thing, much faster than the others, and within the week the robot was speaking simple sentences in lieu of screeching and chirping at him. Short phrases like "What that?" and "No go!".

And he wanted to explore. No matter how well Nick locked up his room Buzzsaw was always outside of it when he got back. This last time he has gotten home just in time to stop the inquisitive sparkling from figuring out how to open a window. Considering his room was on the second floor, that could have been disastrous.

"I want to go outside!" Buzzsaw whined, sitting and pouting on the window sill. Nick shook his head. "People will see you."

"No they won't! I-I can be good! I'll stay as a 'saw. ...You can carry me?"

Nick wasn't convinced. But Buzzsaw was insistent. As his language (and unfortunately, his climbing skills) progressed over the days, Buzzsaw kept climbing to the window and observing through it for hours whenever Nick was busy, though he didn't try to open it again (or else Nick said he'd be 'grounded', whatever that was. It didn't sound fun). He could see the trees and sidewalks leading away from the building he and his creator lived in, and even the street beyond. People and vehicles moved about their business, but what he really liked to watch were the birds. They could look so colorful and fly anywhere they wanted, and Buzzsaw wished _he_ could fly. What was their view like?

"Nick," Buzzsaw asked for the fifth time one evening, about two weeks after activation.

"can't you just let me play outside for a _little_ bit? _Please_? I promise I'll be good. We can just go by those trees!" He meant the trees by the sidewalk right outside the building. Nick frowned. Buzzsaw wasn't going to give up, and he had to admit he wouldn't like being stuck in this tiny dorm room forever. Nick sipped his coffee. Wiping his mouth, he fixed his latest problem with a serious expression.

"Under a few conditions."

Buzzsaw whipped his head back at Nick disbelieving. " _Really_? Yes, yes! I'll be good."

"First," Nick began, "you will stay close to me at all times." Buzzsaw nodded vigorously.

"Second, you won't talk unless I specifically tell you you can. You're going to have to pretend like you're a toy robot, and that I'm controlling you remotely. If I pick you up, don't move. Act like you're not alive if I'm holding you." Again, Buzzsaw nodded happily. Nick had him play that game all the time around his RA, who liked to perform "surprise inspections". Apparently some of the freshmen sharing this building had been caught with weed earlier in the semester. Buzzsaw didn't understand the explanation though - what was wrong with keeping weeds in your room? They were everywhere in the grass outside. _And he was going outside_! Buzzsaw would be extra careful not to bring any of the weeds back inside with him or else Nick might get in trouble.

"And third," Nick was saying, " we're only going a few yards from the building this time. Maybe we can go somewhere else later, but I'm not comfortable with that yet. When I pick you up or say we're going inside, that's final. Do _not_ argue with me."

"Yeeee! I promise!" Screeched Buzzsaw happily, bouncing away from Nick to jump up and down on a living room chair in excitement (if you could call the small main area of the dorm room a living room).

"Are we going _now_?!"

"No. Wait till it gets a little darker outside. Less people might see you."

"Okay!

If Buzzsaw was disheartened that his first venture outside wouldn't be far or long, he didn't show it. Nick grabbed an Xbox controller for appearances and had Buzzsaw turn into a regular saw before heading out the door. It was 7:00 p.m. and spring, so there was still enough light to see by, but it was fading and fading quickly. Which was good. Nick didn't want to stay out that long anyway.

Setting Buzzsaw down, Nick checked for any bystanders before quietly telling the excited sparkling to transform.

"Remember what I told you." Nick said, motioning with his Xbox controller. Buzzsaw grinned, liking the idea of playing pretend with Nick again but for possibly a wider audience.

At first Buzzsaw was hesitant to stray more than a few feet from Nick.

But in a minute Nick was following him as he peddled around, finding everything from the grass that slushed beneath his peds to the stars that were starting to peek out as the sky grew darker interesting. The dimming evening light silhouetted the trees, drawing his attention. He knew of trees. Birds liked to perch in trees.

Skipping up to one of the trees (which were thicker around than he was), the small robot reached out and touched the bark. It felt rough and bumpy, and didn't move. Buzzsaw giggled. This was supposed to be _alive_? He craned his head back. He knew it. Trees _are_ tall. Nick watched as Buzzsaw circled and inspected the trunk, looking for a way to climb it; good thing the branches on these particular kind of trees were too high up for Buzzsaw to reach. Nick was so not in the mood to climb after him.

Nick checked his watch. 7:40. It was starting to get really dark, and he decided to call it a night. Surprisingly Buzzsaw didn't argue when Nick picked him up and told him to change back into his alt mode, looking to make sure no one _saw_. Luckily nobody happened to be too close to them at the moment. And even if they had been, the entire field trip would have looked like some nerd playing with his remote controlled toy robot from a distance.

"Can-can you get me one of those?" Buzzsaw asked, arms sliding forward to form the blade holding part of the saw as he changed shape.

"One of what?"

"One of those green pointy papers on the tree."

"You mean a ' _leaf'_?"

The circular blade cycled once. " _Duh_. That's what I said."

Nick rolled his eyes but walked up to one of the trees anyway. After plucking a random leaf for his alien he went back inside, fully intending to get some studying in before going to bed. He had a physics test the next day.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Yeah, having Ironhide land at night was probably the better decision. The ship was large enough to attract very much unwanted attention from any idiot with a telescope, and white enough (from solar radiation) to stick out like a sore thumb had it landed anywhere else. Luckily for them, an unamused Agent Fowler had provided them with a large government warehouse in Alaska to hide the ship behind. Coupled with snow covering the right angles, the ship blended into the snowy surroundings seamlessly.

Prime waited patiently under the overhang of the provided warehouse as the new Autobots disembarked. Ironhide was first, followed by Jazz and Inferno. The lights of their frames glancing off the descending snowflakes made them seem even more unearthly than they already were, Prime reflected.

"Sir." Jazz greeted formally with a salute when they reached him. Ironhide and Inferno likewise saluted their Prime.

"At ease."

Allowed to relax, Jazz sniffed, his plating clamped tight to his frame to conserve heat.

"I hope the environment at the base we're bridging to ain't as cold or," the saboteur shook his ped free of the fluffy white stuff the internet called _snow_ , "wet."

Optimus smiled slightly. "It is quite the opposite." And he meant it. Literally.

Looking up at a sudden yelp, the group watched as an aerialbot who had just disembarked almost face planted in a particularly deep drift of snow. Behind him, a grey flyer Prime recognized as Silverbolt facepalmed at his subordinate's clumsiness. Over the comms Blaster called, -That was close Fireflight!-

"Not my fault it's so slippery." The flyer, 'Fireflight', muttered. As three more aerialbots exited the ship after their commander along with Skyfire and First Aid, Jazz turned back to Optimus.

"So where is this "secret base" anyway? When do we get to meet any humans?"

His Prime turned rather serious at the questions, to Jazz's confusion.

"I fear we will soon be meeting humans who will not appreciate our presence, but, that is a discussion for a more secure location. I will fill all of you in once we reach the base. Ratchet should be sending a ground bridge shortly." Inferno raised an optic ridge at the intentionally vague answer and exchanged a glance with Ironhide just as the groundbridge swirled into existence in front of them. What was wrong?

Ratchet watched all twelve of them troop their merry snow covered way into the silo from behind the groundbridge console. He so looked forward to making Miko clean up all that water later. Grinning audio to audio, Jazz sauntered up to the medic and leaned over the bridge controls, obstructing them.

"Heya Hatchet. Miss me?"

"Like a rust infection. Which is what all you snow covered glitches will have if you don't dry off and stop spreading water all over our floor." Jazz glanced at his peds, noticing the wet trail of footsteps they produced for the first time.

"Good to see you again Sir." Ratchet gladly turned away from Jazz to see who had spoken, though he thought he recognized the voice. Finally, another medic!

"You don't know how true that is First Aid." Ratchet said. And he truly meant it. "Tell me you have medical supplies on that ship."

First Aid nodded. "A decent amount. Why, is someone currently injured?"

"They might be." Ratchet said, indicating Optimus with a jerk of his head. "He can explain it, don't look at me. I just hope we have parts for new frames. Do you remember anything about treating sparklings?

First Aid gave his mentor a WTF expression (which is impressive considering he didn't really have a face). "Wh-Sparklings no longer exist."

Ratchet nodded in agreement. "Well Earth has a way of making the impossible-" He was interrupted by Ironhide's question of-

"Hey, where's Bumblebee? Didn't you say he was part of your team here?" With everyone's attention Ironhide realized that his question had rung a little louder than intended (Blaster and Jazz shared a look - can someone say 'great acoustics'?). Ironhide had looked forward to seeing his youngling after so long. Prime frowned, again becoming strangely serious.

"He is currently on patrol with Arcee, Bulkhead and Cliffjumper; investigating a discovery we recently made. Now that we are in a shielded location, I can discuss it with you freely; I did not want the wrong audios - human or Decepticon - to hear of it, nor will you openly discuss it outside this base." Prime was all business, and Jazz reflexively leaned in feigned relaxation against the console he stood by, his ops training kicking in. Oooh, This would be good.

"Two days ago we learned of the existence of at least two sparklings in human possession…."

* * *

-Robot Fight Club-

-Annie Anyone _not_ going on vacation?

-MOur spring break is next week though…

-Annie Oh yeah, high school spring breaks don't line up with college spring breaks.

-NickK College spring breaks don't line up with college spring breaks

-M Obviously not when you're in another state NickK

-M Why aren't you going on vacation? Thought your family went to the beach every year.

-Annie I thought so too but dad got deployment orders for this week and it's not the same without him. Looks like I'm stuck at home :(

-RyanWilliams Guys stop texting it's like 11:00 how are you all up

-M What is it, your bedtime?

-RyanWilliams Micah don't you have a physics test first period tomorrow?

-M Oh yeah

-NickK M You too? No way!

-Annie Anyone want to see a movie after school tomorrow? I'll be back in town by noon, and we can bring our aliens

-NickK Oh my god don't send something like that

-M I'm in.

-NickK Someone could be monitoring us

-M But it would have to be something age appropriate for them.

-NickK We could all go to some government prison for this

-Annie Yeah the NSA is watching us guys ^

-M BOMB TERRORISM OBAMA GUN

-NickK Stop it

-Annie lol

-RyanWilliams Actually NickK has a point - nothing says laying low like sneaking three aliens into a theater. Besides not everyone has the luxury of being able to sneak stuff to the movies with a purse.

-Annie Get a man purse.

-NickK You know what I mean

-M Fine let's just hang out at my house tomorrow.

-RyanWilliams Seconded

-Annie K

Yes! An open parking spot not a mile away from Micah's house. While Micah's place had the benefit of being close to both the high school and main park, street parking was at a premium. _'Not today_ ', Annie thought. Putting it in reverse, she parked between a black truck and an ugly green SUV, remembering to grab her purse and the snacks she had filched from her house before coming to Micah's.

Micah opened the door a crack to look at her suspiciously. "Password."  
"We have food."  
"Sounds right to me."

If Annie noticed the way Micah's hair was combed neatly or the nice shirt he wore for such a casual occasion, she didn't comment. He said "You look good" as she closed the front door behind her.

"Thanks." She said, unzipping her purse before peering into it and calling, "Pulse?"  
A tiny servo grabbed the edge of the bag, and the smallest sparkling Nick had ever created (considering she used to be a small Chromebook) poked her head out of the bag shyly.

Micah leaned a little closer to the thin, silvery robot that he rarely got to see since Annie graduated. "Hey there."

Pulse pulled herself a little more out of the bag while eyeing Micah and wordlessly held out her hands to Annie. Unlike the others she had never really learned to talk, though whether it was because she had some kind of malfunction or simply didn't want to was anyone's guess. The only reason they called her a 'she' was because Wheelie and Ditto, upon first being introduced to her, had unanimously decided it and well, that was that.

Micah lead them to the back where everyone else was already playing video games on Micah's Xbox.

"Find a good parking spot?" Ryan asked, glancing up at the trio's entrance.  
"For once in my life." Annie looked at Micah. "I don't know how you stand it. Tell your parents to move somewhere with a driveway."  
"I can just walk five minutes to school, what do I need a parking spot for?"

Wheelie looked up from the screen where his character had just killed Ditto's with a gravity hammer and saw Annie holding Pulse.  
"Pulse! Come play with us! Ryan will give you his controller."

Ryan shot Wheelie a look. "No I won't."

Pulse turned her head to appraise her fellow sparklings, then tilted it up at Annie. Understandingly the young woman set her down, and Pulse padded over to where they sat on the floor in front of Micah's bed. Relaxing _on_ the bed, Lauren didn't bother to stop manipulating her spartan on the TV as she asked, "Did you hear about Nick?"

Annie _had_ noticed Lauren when she walked in. The brunnette sophomore liked to pull the 'I-didn't-reply-on-the-groupchat-but-I-showed-up-anyway' routine.

"No? Did something happen?"  
Lauren lowered her voice, aware of the robots below the bed. "He made another one."

Annie's eyebrows rose. "No way!"  
"Oh, _way_ ", Micah interrupted, mouth twitching into a smirk. "Guess what it was this time."  
"Uhhh...a laser printer?"

"Nope."

"A dishwasher?"

"Not even close."

"A coffee maker?"  
Ryan's laugh rose from in front of the bed. Evidently he was listening. "That would be _so_ lame," Micah shook his head. "A chainsaw." He informed her, delighting in her expression. "Well, a hand held buzzsaw to be more specific."  
"Oh my god! Did he get hurt?!" Annie could just imagine what a living saw could do to someone. "Nah. Now, the guy _holding_ it - he got hurt. But Nick says not too badly.

"...Are you guys talking about Buzzsaw?" Wheelie asked. He had stood up and was now balancing on the tip of his peds to peek over the foot of the bed mattress at Lauren and Annie.

Lauren looked at Annie, who looked at Micah, who just looked back at her. Annie nodded. "Yeah."

"When do we get to meet him? Is Nick coming too?" Hearing the tail end of Wheelie's statement, Ditto whipped his head around.  
"Nick's coming?!"

"Not right now," Ryan interjected quickly. "He might drop by if he comes back for his spring break. But that's next week."  
"Yay!"

...And Ditto turned back around to continue his game as if the conversation never happened. Weirdo. Suddenly the blue sparkling whined,  
"That's cheating Ryan! You can't unpause it while we're talking!"  
"It's called multitasking."

Wheelie sat back down and picked up his controller, intending to show them both, only for his character to die a second later from a spartan laser blast.

"Good one Pulse!" Ryan encouraged, even though he was clearly the one really controlling his character. Pulse, sitting against Ryan's leg, smiled a little and continued the pressing of random buttons on the fifth and unconnected controller Ryan had given her. Someone should inform her that that technique only works on Super Smash Bros.  
"You had to be screen peeking to see me!" .  
"Yeah," Ditto confirmed of his guardian. "Ryan's a screen peeker."

"I got invis!"  
Lauren smiled as her character dropped down to where invisibility normally spawned underneath a giant pinwheel only to find it empty. "Could have told me that earlier"  
"Not my fault you're slow." Ryan snarked.

Micah and Annie watched Lauren and Ryan destroy the aliens, seeing as only four people could play on an Xbox at a time. It was obvious which of the split screens the humans controlled. Ditto, yet to figure out how green thumb worked and that up was in fact not down, was making his character look up run in circles the whole time. Wheelie was a little better and managed to kill someone every now and then but still kind of sucked.

"I'm getting a drink." Annie declared, leaving for the kitchen. With nothing better to do Micah followed suit.

"Here." He said, opening the cup cabinet and handing her a glass.

Annie flashed one of her dazzling smiles at him. "Thanks."

While Annie filled it up at the fridge dispenser Micah cast his eyes awkwardly about the kitchen, making himself look anywhere butt at her. His gaze settled on the window above the sink and - hey. Didn't he recognize that green SUV?

Now, being paranoid was more Nick's thing (after all, he was the one with the _gift_ ). But Micah knew for damn sure that that ugly SUV was following him. He'd seen it multiple times to and from school, when he bothered to go, and this was the second time he'd seen it on his street. Hadn't he also seen it that day at the park? Maybe Nick had been right to be scared the government would track them down. Maybe they already had.

Micah didn't say anything about it though until later when Annie said she had better get home. "My mom's making dinner for me since I'm home this week. Think I'm going to head out."

Micah asked "Did you park next to that green SUV?" though he had seen that she had.

"Yeah? Why?"

"I thought it was following me for the last few days, and I noticed it parked out front when we went to the kitchen earlier. I've never really seen the driver, but it was parked outside a park a while back that we were letting Wheelie and Ditto run around in."

"I remember that." Volunteered Ryan.

"Here, I'll walk you out." Micah offered, which he would have done anyway regardless of the weird SUV. Annie accepted graciously, and had Pulse climb back into her purse before hanging it over her shoulder delicately. Micah nervously followed her out the door.

But there was nothing to worry about as on approach Micah saw that again the vehicle had no driver. Where was that guy?

"Have a good night." He bade Annie, still roving his gaze around the street incase the driver was legit a serial killer and hanging out nearby.

"Bye!" Annie said reflexively as she closed her driver's side door. Micah went back to his porch and stayed there until Annie pulled away, and more importantly, the green car _didn't_. If someone was going to be followed, he didn't want it to be her. He went back inside.

* * *

-I'll follow her.- Ironhide commed to Bulkhead, already peeling away from the curb.

-What?- Bulkhead stuttered. -No! We're supposed to be tailing _these_ humans. And the one might still be watching us.-

-He was looking at _you_ , and that girl has another sparkling with her. So far Optimus only said there were two, but I counted three spark signatures in there and one of them's leaving. You already know where these one's humans live, we can't risk losing this new sparkling."-

Seeing as Ironhide was already moving away Bulkhead gave up, simply cautioning,

-At least don't break your cover.-

-I'm aware.-

Optimus had made it clear to Ironhide and crew that unless Decepticons were involved, they really weren't supposed reveal themselves to the humans. Minus the three that already knew of their existence. Personally the warrior found Miko, Jack, and Raf to be weak and annoying creatures, but Skyfire seemed to enjoy their presence and would go out of his way to "hang out" with them, as the humans say. He was sure the jet's being a former xenobiologist had nothing to do with it. Blaster and Jazz really liked the human children too, but Ironhide just didn't see the fleshies' appeal.

Granted, this was the humans' planet, and Ironhide knew he'd have to get used to the tiny aliens. Didn't mean he had to like them. Or their slagging traffic. Currently he was at a red light, a few cars between him and his target. He could afford to lose sight of her though; as long as the sparkling's signal remained in range he was good.

Eventually the girl's red car stopped outside an average house in a seemingly random (to him) suburb. It was only one story, yellow, and had an army flag fluttering out front. The girl got out, blonde hair bobbing with the motion, and gathered her purse which Ironhide assumed contained the sparkling. How dare she carry the little guy around with her like that! But Ironhide couldn't do anything about it. Yet. And as far as he knew, the humans might not be otherwise abusing the sparklings. They would find out soon enough.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After a few hours of surveillance Ironhide surmised that this was indeed the female's home, as it was getting quite late and humans recharged during the night cycle. But just to be sure Optimus had Jazz take his place for a turn after he returned to base.

"Hey 'Bee," Ironhide asked, seeing the scout as he walked into the main area. "Want to spar?"

Bumblebee beeped an enthusiastic agreement, though he stated that he had to take his human friend home first. Ironhide nodded at the yellow 'bot in acknowledgment. "See you later Ironhide" said a tired Raf, but Ironhide had already turned away from the organic to see who all else was in the main room.

Bumblebee transformed and opened a door so that Raf could hop in. The pair raced out the large room to the silo's main entrance, and Slingshot commented,

"Hey. How come we can't just go out like that?"

"Your alt mode is a jet, Slingshot." Ratchet said over his shoulder guards from the adjoining medbay, where he was helping First Aid set up equipment. "The humans would notice."

"Oh come on doc, it's dark out! Don't humans have shitty night vision or something? Besides, it's getting cramped in here."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Growled the recently returned Ironhide.

Silverbolt heard the tail end of the conversation as he entered the main room, back from a tour of the small base via Cliffjumper. He chose that moment to enlighten his squadmate,

"Actually, night flying is okay, as long as we don't fly or land close to any human settlements or roads."

" _What_!" Slingshot exclaimed. "I've been wasting my life!" And with that he transformed and took off through the winding entrance after Bumblebee.

"Should we tell him it's not a motion activated door?" Cliffjumper suggested, but Silverbolt crooked a small smirk at him, having felt the (luckily slow) impact through his gestalt bond.

"He already found out."

Suddenly Silverbolt stiffened. At Cliffjumper's WTF look, the Autobot commander wordlessly pointed to his comm. The two stood in silence for a minute. Whoever was on the other end must have finished, because Silverbolt finally answered them with a stern,

"No. I don't care Fireflight, put it back."

Silverbolt paused for another few seconds, then said,

"Because _he's_ a xenobiologist. You're not, so don't even think about it. Silverbolt out."

Signing off, Silverbolt rubbed his face and glanced at Cliffjumper, who wore his signature 'care-to-explain' expression tinged with a hint of amusement. It made Silverbolt glare.

" _What_?"

"What did Fireflight want?"

"To bring some animal back to base because 'it's cute'. Not only is it physically _impossible_ to distinguish such characteristics from the air, but we have better things to do with our time and resources than bring home some wild animal as a pet."

Cliffjumper snickered "So basically, 'Ain't nobody got time for that'". Now it was Silverbolt's turn to look at him weird.

"It's a human expression." Cliffjumper dismissed. "Look it up later."

"Wouldn't s'pose either of you would know where Inferno or Optimus went?" Ironhide interrupted. Silverbolt's wings flared in a shrug.

"Last I checked he was back at the ship - Optimus, that is. I don't know where Inferno is."

Cliffjumper brightened. "I do. He's with Blaster and Arcee - and that human friend of hers - picking out a suitable alt mode. Something about a lookout they could see the highway from."

* * *

"Hey man, you okay in there?"

Wiping his mouth, Nick called "y-yeah" to whoever was outside the stall, praying to whatever cruel god was out there that they would leave the restroom. It was awkward enough when you felt like someone was listening to you poop. Never mind throwing up.

The sound of the bathroom door closing took care of that, and Nick stifled a yell as another agonizing migraine ripped through him, throwing up from the pain instead. It felt like his head was being split open. Maybe...maybe if he just waited it out, whatever was wrong with him would auto-correct itself, terminate whatever virus was in him. Maybe he had the flu? Considering all the other crazy stuff that was happening in his life, catching the flu wasn't that bad. Nick spent another ten minutes leaning over the poclain throne before getting to his feet, unlocking the stall, and going to wash his hands. He looked up at his reflection in the mirror and did a doubletake, but it must have been his imagination or the overly bright lights in here. Man he looked like crap.

"Honey I'm home." Nick announced lamely when he stumbled into his dorm (forget going to classes like this!). He drearily grabbed a glass of water before kicking Buzzsaw out of his room.

"What'd I do?" The sparkling whined.

"Nothing. I need to sleep; go watch TV or something."

"In the middle of the day?"

Nick yawned, dizzy. "I don't feel good."

"Does sleeping make people like you feel better?" Buzzsaw wished there was something he could do for his creator.

'"Yes. It's a...human thing."

"Okay!" Nick closed his bedroom door and heard when Buzzsaw cut the TV on - sounded like channel 7, the news. He really shouldn't be watching that garbage. But Nick felt too crappy to care as he laid down and went out like a light as soon as his head met pillow.

In the other room, Buzzsaw clambered onto the couch so he could see the TV better. Dang it, forgot the remote. Hopping off the couch to pick it up, he turned around to see that Nick had left the front door to his dorm open. Huh. Nick would want him to close that. And he _was_ going to, honest - but the hallway looked so inviting and new, and easily explorable; Buzzsaw (let alone any sparkling his age) just couldn't resist the temptation to explore.

The hallway carpet was really white, and Buzzsaw wondered if that was its color or if it was just really clean. Whenever Nick took him out the tiny Cybertronian was always transformed, and he couldn't see anything when he was pretending to be a saw. Buzzsaw stole a glance over his shoulder - Nick's door was still open. He should really turn back now. He could turn back now.

...Orrrrr later. Just after he finished exploring. Yeah, that sounded good. Nick didn't even have to know.

At the end of the hallway was a set of silver doors and a button on the wall next to them with an arrow on it. He wondered where those doors went. Suddenly a 'DING' noise sounded, surprising the alien and making him reflexively turn into a saw in the hopes that whatever had made it would mistake him for a regular saw like the RA often did. He heard the a whooshing noise that must have been the silver doors opening, and-

"Hey, what's a buzzsaw doing out here?" A voice asked. Buzzsaw felt himself be picked up by the handle.

"Weird." Someone else agreed. Then, "Hurry up and change your shirt so we can go."

"Not my fault Jason spilled soda on me." The first voice grumbled.

Whoever held him walked a short distance back the way he'd come before Buzzsaw heard the jingling of keys. The stranger put him down on a hard surface, and terrified, the sparkling remained in disguise. Where was he? Had the stranger brought him back to Nick's room? No - he didn't hear the TV he'd left on in the background, this must be somewhere else. Who was 'Jason'? Footsteps approached and then he was grabbed again and carried a while. Warm air hit him and with a sudden panic Buzzsaw realized he was _outside_. Where were they going?!

"...Why do you still have that?" That same female voice from before asked. Buzzsaw was thrown roughly onto a metallic surface that smelled like gas.

"Figured I'd go ahead and put it with the other tools - I could use a good saw for 'shop. Finders keepers." The woman laughed, and Buzzsaw heard (and felt) the passenger door close, followed shortly by the driver's side door. Then the surface beneath him started to rumble with the start of an engine, the truck pulling away.

 _No_! But there was nothing he could do. Buzzsaw clamped his armor tighter to his saw frame as he heard the air whistle over the exposed truck bed. Every bump in the road jostled him and had him scared he would go flying out.

He wanted to go home.

He wanted to go home.

HE WANTED TO GO HOME.

Finally the ride from hell ended when the truck slowed down to a stop and mercifully stayed that way. The humans got out, their footsteps fading away. For a long time Buzzsaw sat transformed in the deafening (compared to the wind) silence. Eventually he transformed back into his root mode and gripped the edge of the truck bed, observing the area from his unwanted vantage point. To find that he didn't recognize any of it.

He was standing in the back of a rusty orange pickup truck, parked alongside various other vehicles in a cleared dirt area meant for parking. There were a _lot_ of people in the adjacent field, talking as they milled around a bonfire in the center of things or dancing to the already loud music. There was also a sizable number of beer cans laid out, however Buzzsaw was too young to really understand why that would be a problem if the police showed up to the party. Buzzsaw ducked down as another vehicle drove up and the couple in it got out, but they didn't see him when they walked by.

This was bad. This was really _really_ bad. What had he been thinking? What would _Nick_ think when he couldn't find him? Buzzsaw climbed over the edge of the truck bed and let himself drop to the ground, the impact a little jarring for his small frame. He knew. He would find out where he was from one of the people at the party. Now, Nick said he shouldn't talk to strangers; to never reveal himself. But this was an _emergency_. Surely he could just ask for directions. Buzzsaw couldn't be _that_ far from where he lived, and besides.

What was the worst that could happen?

 **I'd love to get reviews or feedback! Let me know if people reading this actually like it, or if I have a spelling error in there somewhere**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Finally, I thought this day would never come!"

"And what day is that, Miko?"

" _Duh_." Miko looked at jack like he was stupid. "Friday? We're officially out for spring break!" She pumped a fist in the air, psyched to spend more time around the new arrivals back at base.

"Are you going back to Tokyo for it?"

"What? And miss out on all the excitement? My actual-parents are fine with me staying with my host-parents, since they aren't going out of town or anything. Why? Are _you_ going somewhere?"

"No, but Raf is."

"Bummer for Bumblebee." Miko replied flippantly.

Raf was already waiting for his friends near the bottom of the school's front steps.

"Hey guys. ...were you just talking about me?" He thought he'd heard his name. Jack nodded, explaining, "I was just telling her that you were going on vacation this week."

"Yeah, we're going to Yellowstone." Raf said, smiling. "I can't wait to see the geysers."

"Lucky!" Miko exclaimed. She looked around the parking lot, spotting neither her green guardian nor Bumblebee. "Hey, where're the 'bots?"

"Probably busy again." Guessed Jack. Miko put her hands on her hips.

" _Man_! I mean, yeah, a bunch of cool new guys just got here, so they're probably helping them do whatever. Still, what's keeping them _that_ busy? ...Oh wait, never mind." She finished, seeing a familiar black topkick and yellow camaro turn the corner.

Raf suddenly remembered something. "Hey, tell 'Bee I forgot my calculus book." He said, hurrying back inside. It couldn't hurt to bring his textbooks with him - he could study on the plane ride to Yellowstone or in the hotel room. Miko watched him go, sighing "He's hopeless."

"Hey guys." Jack quietly greeted the vehicles as they pulled up to the curb. Bumblebee beeped something at him. "Raf went back inside to get something real quick." Jack said, hoping that was what the camaro was asking. He and Miko didn't understand Bumblebee speak like Raf could.

Bumblebee opened his doors so Jack and Miko could climb in, Miko characteristically claiming "Shotgun!". Ironhide didn't offer the teenagers a ride, and they knew better than to ask. Jack had the sense the black mech didn't really like them that much.

They were waiting for Raf when Jack heard "Hey _Jack_ ass!" Followed by a nail-on-chalkboard noise and laughter. He and Miko twisted around to see Vince continuing his saunter across the street, keys in hand. "Hsfkhgdkhfg" Miko spat in Japanese. How dare that jerk key Bumblebee?

Ironhide must have felt the same way, because Jack saw the truck - who had up until that point remained patiently parked on the curb behind them - suddenly swerve out of his spot and nearly _hit_ Vince. He must have actually clipped him though (barely, and at like, 5 miles per hour) because the ginger jerk stumbled forward to sprawl on his hands and knees. That didn't last long.

"HEY _what_ the _FUCK_ you ASSHOLE!" Vince snarled, righting himself and rage-throwing the only thing at hand (which happened to be his car keys) at the retreating Ironhide. The truck ignored him and kept going to disappear around the next corner.

"Woah." Miko breathed, pressed against a window like Jack was. "Remind _me_ not to mess up Bumblebee's paintjob." Bumblebee whistled apologetically and twisted his steering wheel back and forth (though the translation was lost on them). As the teens watched Vince stoop down to pick up his keys through Bumblebee's windows, Raf caught up to them and hopped in. Clicking his seat belt in place, he saw his friends' expressions and paused.

"Did I miss something?"

" _Dude_!" Miko exploded. "Ironhide, like, almost made a _pancake_ out of Vince!"

"W-why would he do that?"

"Bee-EEEp-whirrrRRR."

Jack had a strange look on his face. Sure, he didn't like Vince as much as the next Jack but that was no reason to run him over.

Bumblebee pulled away from the school after his mentor, informing Raf of the bully's keying. Really, Bumblebee didn't see the big deal. The 'Cons always did way worse, and Ratchet or First Aid could buff out the scratch no problem. Ironhide had totally overreacted. Bumblebee knew Prime would agree with him, much as he hated having to put this in his patrol report.

* * *

It was 9:00. Nick sat up in bed and sucked in a breath, _stars_ dancing in his vision for a minute. Great, he'd woken up just so he could go back to sleep. Had he really slept all afternoon? Oh well, at least the headaches were gone.

Boredly Nick shuffled out of his room for a snack (because when _wasn't_ there a time to eat?) and glanced at the open door on his way to the pantry. It was only on the way back to his room, a pack of gramcrackes in hand, that it registered.

... _Why_ was the door open?

Better yet, where was Buzzsaw? Buzzsaw hardly ever slept and would normally be on him whenever possible. Nick glanced at the now ominously open door. No. Just, no. He checked the couch. No Buzzsaw. He ducked his head out the door - nope.

"Buzzsaw?" Nick called, shutting it. Silence, save for the TV still playing. Nick shut that off too.

" _Buzzsaw_."

Silence.

Okay, now he was getting worried. With a sick feeling Nick checked the bathroom before heading out the door. Maybe Buzzsaw had decided to explore and was still being stupid somewhere in the building. ' _Please let me find him somewhere in the building.'_

He didn't. Nor was Buzzsaw immediately outside the dorm either. Nick's heart rate picked up with his pace as he circled their building once, twice, now three times. This was bad. This was really _really_ bad. What had he been thinking? Nick reached the nearest street to eye it up and down for the lost mechanism - but it was no use.

Stupid. How could this happen? Great, now the headache was back. And he was so _stupid_! He must have left his door open earlier when - what was he going to - Buzzsaw-

-He was turning in circles as he desperately looked up and down the street again. As if that would fix this (the thought of Buzzsaw getting damaged enough to _need_ fixing added to the stress; that kid was his responsibility damn it). Yep, his headache was definitely coming back with a vengeance. And couldn't that damn alien stay in one place long enough for him to take a freaking _nap_? Was that too much to ask? He didn't ask for the accident ( _what was it now, one, two years ago?_ ) that had started this mess; hadn't asked for whatever crazy power that caused him to create these... _things_. God and that headache was back.

Nick randomly glared at a streetlight across the street from him, thinking ' _NO_!' at his stupid, just _fantastic_ predicament and at the pain of the building migraine.

First the streetlight he was looking at went out.

Then the rest of the lights in that street.

And the whole city.

Buildings lost the light in their windows, eliciting surprised and amused shouts from restaurants and apartments where the power had suddenly cut off. Any TU students who happened to be walking home from a late class or to a party sucked themselves out of their phones to look around the real world with interest. A blackout? Cool. Traffic slowed to a crawl as people realized the traffic lights were blown. Horns honked aplenty. And In a strange moment of clarity Nick realized that his headache was gone.

' _Oh. My. God._ '

Slowly, he turned around to see that behind him, too, the power had gone out. Had he done this? No, he couldn't have - well, he could have - he didn't do this - well he _did_ create sentient machines on a regular basis. Could he have done this? That was crazy. He was crazy. What the hell was going on?!

More residents were starting to come outside, eager to see if this was indeed a true power outage or if their building just had shitty wiring. This was _so_ not happening. _And_ he still had to find Buzzsaw. A confused (and in that deep part of his mind, _frightened_ ) Nick became part of the milling people who didn't have a clue that _he'd_ done this, himself clueless as to what he had just set in motion.

 **Man the month of May is a busy time for a graduating senior. I can't wait to have more time to work on this stuff in the summer. Still have no idea where I'm going with this. Suggestions are welcome - let me know what you guys think**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Soundwave stalked through the automated door to the bridge and came to a halt a respectful distance from his leader. Megatron's powerful figure, gunmetal grey silhouetted against black windows, didn't turn around for a minute. Doubtless he was looking inward. The nighttime sky certainly offered no views.

"I trust you will be ready to depart immediately?" Megatron asked, in good spirits. _An opportunity, this! And the Decepticons would seize it!_

What amounted to the robot version of slender man nodded silently. Soundwave then inclined his helm towards the vehicons at the main console while lighting up his visor to display first the city of Dallas, then an image of the entire state of Texas.

A wide search area indeed. It was a question.

To which Megatron answered, "You may take one of the new arrivals with you - the drones may well attract attention. Use Laserbeak if necessary, but _do not break cover_." He scowled, though not a Soundwave. "The Autobots don't have nearly as advanced an array of sensors as are aboard the Nemesis, and could unaware of the energy surge." Engaging with them now could jeopardize getting to the source first went unsaid and unneeded.

Megatron turned away again. His red gaze searched the dark sky, as if it knew the answers to his thoughts. Was this somehow an Autobot trap? It was possible the fools didn't even knew of this. Why Dallas, Texas? If it _was_ an Autobot trick, why did they risk the humans' lives with such a pointless detonation? Although, the explosion of energy didn't seem to have had an affect the organics. He doubted their feeble technology had even picked up the energy's frequency.

To the advanced Cybertronian tech, a nuclear bomb might as well have gone off for all the fallout being detected throughout the state - Dallas at its center.

Soundwave waited patiently to see if Megatron would say anything else. He did not have to wait long.

"Raw energy of this magnitude couldn't have been produced by mere _humans_." Megatron logicked, now more talking to himself than his subordinates. "I doubt the Autobots would have the ability or gall to do this. If this has even the remotest possibility of becoming a resource, I will not have it fall into their hands."

So that was it, then, Soundwave pondered. Surely there was also the possibility of destroying whatever this was, should their enemies come close to obtaining it. Just what was it though?

Soundwave was loyal, dependable - much unlike that treacherous Starscream. Funny, if one had humor, that the seeker wasn't given this assignment. The Air Commander certainly wouldn't find it funny when he found out after returning from the current errand Megatron had him on.

But _Soundwave_ would find out what this was.

He always did.

* * *

While it may have been a warm night in Dallas, the night air was much cooler here. Not enough to discourage the adventurous hiker, of course, though it wasn't quite hiking season yet. Even then there were ways of dealing with such civilians.

The moon was up by now. Round and full it cast shadows, giving the surrounding wilderness an eerie glow. Strange, how their own world could seem so alien given the proper light. That was what did it for him. Getting the chance to even see that light. So few did.

Footsteps scratching on the rocks. The athletic (one had to be), broad shouldered man flicked his cigarette onto the stony ground. Damned recruits. Couldn't be stealthy if their life depended on it.

He didn't start conversation with the rookie ( _what was it again, James, Jace?_ ) because obviously the latter had something to inform him of.

"Sir."

"..."

"There's been a large detonation in Texas - Dallas; grade 10 level, NBE radiation for sure. Jet leaves at 0300 hours."

Naturally command wouldn't share all the details with this low-rank, and he didn't ask for any further ones. Idly he wondered if that ass Benson would be on the team.

"Thank you private." He grunted, a clear dismissal. The young man - _couldn't have been over 18, that old scar face was_ really _scraping the bottom of the barrel_ \- took it as such and left him to it.

The man surveyed the mountainside one last time. He always _did_ like these remote bases better. They were more peaceful, at least on the outside.

Special Agent Crutcher headed back. This could be interesting.

* * *

Pulse was sleeping (again) on a pillow next to her as Annie procrastinated on her phone. A blanket had been draped over the femme just in case her mom came in unannounced, though the door was locked.

For the umpteenth time, Annie wondered if there was something wrong with hers. None of the others' robots had to "power down" as often.

Her phone buzzed. Not about to let on that she was already on it when the call came (as is usually the case when someone picks up immediately), she let it ring twice before answering.

"Hello?"

"Hey. Where are you right now?"

"At home. Why?"

"Turn on the TV, channel 73. Hey - that rhymed."

A corner of Annie's mouth twitched up in amusement. She got up to turn on the small TV in her room like Micah asked.

"Okay...what about it?" Something about a regional power outage in Texas. A pretty news anchor was describing it as 'untraceable' or something. Who cared?

Micah replied. "You're not going to believe this - it's Nick!"

But she didn't connect the dots. "What's Nick?"

"Dude, the blackout! He caused it. I repeat, we've officially gone defcon three, Nick blew out an entire state's power supply!"

Was that humor in his voice? Annie couldn't tell if he was joking or being serious right now, but she suspected the former. "You can't believe-"

Micah cut her off: "Oh, because that's sooooo unbelievable. You literally carry around an alien robot he brought to life in your a purse. Trust me, he did this. Just got off the phone with him. He's sure of it."

What the hell Nick? Wasn't he the one always freaking out about laying low? But she supposed it probably wasn't his fault. She doubted he was the kind of person to fuck with so many people on so large a scale just for kicks and giggles. Not that he could control whatever this was enough to do so at will, anyway.

"Does...does anyone else think he did it?"

"Nope. At least, we doubt it. They won't get a chance to ask him at any rate. Nick's getting the hell out of Dodge, said something about heading over to Daniel's for a bit - something about being unable to mess shit up that far away from civilization."

Nick was finally jumping ship, Annie supposed. Wait a second….

"This all started out there. Why would he go back to get away from it? That doesn't make any sense…"

"I don't know, maybe he just needs some fresh air. Or to go back to...you know." Micah trailed off the last part of the sentence. None of them liked to talk about that part. It was too unnerving. Annie decided to switch gears.

"How's 'Buzzsaw' doing? I assume he's taking him with."

Micah paused, as if taken aback. "Strange. Nick actually didn't mention him."

"weird." Annie agreed. "But then a lot of weird crap has been going on lately."

"Yeah. Well, just giving you an update. See you later."

"Kay. Bye."

Click

Annie pressed the red 'end call' button, looking back at Pulse and then at the TV again, frowning in contemplation. The power outage extended to basically the entire state of Texas.

Damn, Nick. Way to keep a low profile.

And for some reason, she had a bad feeling about Nick not mentioning Buzzsaw.

* * *

 **I'm back! Sorry-not sorry for the late update, but I'm starting a new chapter in the _real_ world and things have gotten busy. So, enjoy! And leave a comment/review for me, it's what inspires me to keep going with this story!**


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